Brandon Mark Ferguson had to make a tough decision: Should he focus on the anniversary date that former Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms removed a GLBT library display from public view, or should he avoid competing with other Pride events?
He decided that cooperating with other Pride events was the way to go.
Ferguson, president of Brandon Pride, had planned to hold a book reading of the now infamous banned books at a Brandon library June 14. However, with so many events surrounding this year's St. Pete Pride, the book reading would be in direct competition with another worthy cause, he said.
"It's about cooperating and working together as a community," Ferguson said. "We need to remember that we're all fighting for the same goal. We can have our event later, which will prevent us from pulling anyone away from St. Pete Pride events and also keep St. Pete Pride from preventing people from coming to our event."
Ferguson has moved the book reading to Thursday, July 5. More details on the reading will be made available soon, he said.
"We do know we want to read passages from those books again this year like we did last year," Ferguson said. "And a July 5 date puts us right in the middle of all the Independence Day celebrations. And that's what this is all about, individual freedoms and expressions."
Ferguson said he knows Storms will be back in Brandon during that time because the legislative session will be over. While he said he would save her a seat for the reading, he doesn't expect her to show.
Details on the Brandon Book Display will be made available in the coming weeks.

By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published June 9, 2005
Library no place for gay pride display, Storms says
The Hillsborough commissioner said she will ask that displays like those at two area libraries be banned.

"I do not want to have to explain to my daughter what it means to question one's sexuality," Storms said during a budget workshop Wednesday.

Hillsborough bans county from recognizing gay pride
What began as a ban on library displays grows into a broad county policy.
By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published June 16, 2005
________________________________________
Storms went a step further Wednesday, getting most of her fellow commissioners to ban the county government from so much as acknowledging gay pride.
Storms: "I move that we adopt a policy that Hillsborough County government abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating in gay pride recognition and events, little g, little p."

See the film �UNbanned� at the following link if you want to know more how our community can take a stand AGAINST censorship, and bigotry, and to take a stand FOR Freedom, and Equality.http://www.ifilm.com/video/2783322

Books Ordered Removed From Display that are available for check out as of 6/23/07.

Author slams gay pride challenge
In a USF lecture, he calls out Ronda Storms, who led the county's push to ban gay pride displays.
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published April 11, 2007
________________________________________
TAMPA - Author and family therapist Chris Crutcher called politicians like state Sen. Ronda Storms, the former Hillsborough commissioner who successfully spearheaded a ban on county government's recognition of gay pride, an embarrassment to their communities.

"We have to always go after people that make decisions like these that leave people destroyed in their wake," Crutcher said. "When the Ronda Storms of the world show up, people get together and start talking about what we have to do to get rid of bigotry."

Crutcher traveled from Spokane, Wash., to speak at the University of South Florida on Tuesday.

Though he's heterosexual, Crutcher said he took the ban personally. He authored two of the books on the gay pride display at the public library that captured Storms' attention and spawned the ordinance.
Crutcher has written books about a range of topics that young adults, gay and straight, struggle with, and said his books are banned or challenged at least six times a year.

Crutcher singled out one comment Storms made during discussions about the countywide ban, when she said she didn't want to have to explain homosexuality to her then 6-year-old daughter had she seen the library display, which was in recognition of gay pride month.

"Give me a break," Crutcher said. "What am I gonna tell my daughter? Nothing. There is nothing scary for a 6-year-old kid on that display. But there is something scary for a 6-year-old kid when she's 20 to have to say there is a hater in her legacy."

Attempts to reach Storms Tuesday evening were unsuccessful.
Crutcher said that parents with beliefs like Storms make themselves unavailable when their children face situations in their life that deal with sexuality. Children would rather talk with a stranger because they are afraid to disappoint their parents, he said.

Crutcher, 60, spoke for nearly two hours to the crowd of close to 50 inside USF's alumni center, many in the group librarians. He shared stories about the struggles he hears from young people who come to him for counseling, and talked about the need for making books available that have diverse characters. It's important for people to read about people they can identify with, he said.
When a local filmmaker debuted a documentary titled un!BANNED last fall that highlighted Storms, the then-Hillsborough County commissioner told the St. Petersburg Times that she stood by the vote.

"I am more convinced today than I was then that that was the appropriate action for the board to take," Storms said at the time.

Kathleen de la Pena McCook, distinguished professor at USF in the School of Library and Information Sciences, said the effects of the ban have extended beyond the gay and lesbian community.

After it was passed, the Florida Library Association voted to no longer hold any meetings in Hillsborough County.

"The ramifications have truly been like ripples on a pond because it continues to clutch at the heart of people," she said.

De la Pena McCook then took up for the city of Tampa, calling it the "good guy" because the city has been more welcoming and accommodating to gays and lesbians than the county. Still, more needs to be done, she said.

"Tampa needs to stand up to the county that it's in," she said. "That's what needs to happen."

Brandon Mark Ferguson had to make a tough decision: Should he focus on the anniversary date that former Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms removed a GLBT library display from public view, or should he avoid competing with other Pride events?
He decided that cooperating with other Pride events was the way to go.
Ferguson, president of Brandon Pride, had planned to hold a book reading of the now infamous banned books at a Brandon library June 14. However, with so many events surrounding this year's St. Pete Pride, the book reading would be in direct competition with another worthy cause, he said.
"It's about cooperating and working together as a community," Ferguson said. "We need to remember that we're all fighting for the same goal. We can have our event later, which will prevent us from pulling anyone away from St. Pete Pride events and also keep St. Pete Pride from preventing people from coming to our event."
Ferguson has moved the book reading to Thursday, July 5. More details on the reading will be made available soon, he said.
"We do know we want to read passages from those books again this year like we did last year," Ferguson said. "And a July 5 date puts us right in the middle of all the Independence Day celebrations. And that's what this is all about, individual freedoms and expressions."
Ferguson said he knows Storms will be back in Brandon during that time because the legislative session will be over. While he said he would save her a seat for the reading, he doesn't expect her to show.
Details on the Brandon Book Display will be made available in the coming weeks.

By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published June 9, 2005
Library no place for gay pride display, Storms says
The Hillsborough commissioner said she will ask that displays like those at two area libraries be banned.

"I do not want to have to explain to my daughter what it means to question one's sexuality," Storms said during a budget workshop Wednesday.

Hillsborough bans county from recognizing gay pride
What began as a ban on library displays grows into a broad county policy.
By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published June 16, 2005
________________________________________
Storms went a step further Wednesday, getting most of her fellow commissioners to ban the county government from so much as acknowledging gay pride.
Storms: "I move that we adopt a policy that Hillsborough County government abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating in gay pride recognition and events, little g, little p."

See the film �UNbanned� at the following link if you want to know more how our community can take a stand AGAINST censorship, and bigotry, and to take a stand FOR Freedom, and Equality.http://www.ifilm.com/video/2783322

Books Ordered Removed From Display that are available for check out as of 6/23/07.

Author slams gay pride challenge
In a USF lecture, he calls out Ronda Storms, who led the county's push to ban gay pride displays.
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published April 11, 2007
________________________________________
TAMPA - Author and family therapist Chris Crutcher called politicians like state Sen. Ronda Storms, the former Hillsborough commissioner who successfully spearheaded a ban on county government's recognition of gay pride, an embarrassment to their communities.

"We have to always go after people that make decisions like these that leave people destroyed in their wake," Crutcher said. "When the Ronda Storms of the world show up, people get together and start talking about what we have to do to get rid of bigotry."

Crutcher traveled from Spokane, Wash., to speak at the University of South Florida on Tuesday.

Though he's heterosexual, Crutcher said he took the ban personally. He authored two of the books on the gay pride display at the public library that captured Storms' attention and spawned the ordinance.
Crutcher has written books about a range of topics that young adults, gay and straight, struggle with, and said his books are banned or challenged at least six times a year.

Crutcher singled out one comment Storms made during discussions about the countywide ban, when she said she didn't want to have to explain homosexuality to her then 6-year-old daughter had she seen the library display, which was in recognition of gay pride month.

"Give me a break," Crutcher said. "What am I gonna tell my daughter? Nothing. There is nothing scary for a 6-year-old kid on that display. But there is something scary for a 6-year-old kid when she's 20 to have to say there is a hater in her legacy."

Attempts to reach Storms Tuesday evening were unsuccessful.
Crutcher said that parents with beliefs like Storms make themselves unavailable when their children face situations in their life that deal with sexuality. Children would rather talk with a stranger because they are afraid to disappoint their parents, he said.

Crutcher, 60, spoke for nearly two hours to the crowd of close to 50 inside USF's alumni center, many in the group librarians. He shared stories about the struggles he hears from young people who come to him for counseling, and talked about the need for making books available that have diverse characters. It's important for people to read about people they can identify with, he said.
When a local filmmaker debuted a documentary titled un!BANNED last fall that highlighted Storms, the then-Hillsborough County commissioner told the St. Petersburg Times that she stood by the vote.

"I am more convinced today than I was then that that was the appropriate action for the board to take," Storms said at the time.

Kathleen de la Pena McCook, distinguished professor at USF in the School of Library and Information Sciences, said the effects of the ban have extended beyond the gay and lesbian community.

After it was passed, the Florida Library Association voted to no longer hold any meetings in Hillsborough County.

"The ramifications have truly been like ripples on a pond because it continues to clutch at the heart of people," she said.

De la Pena McCook then took up for the city of Tampa, calling it the "good guy" because the city has been more welcoming and accommodating to gays and lesbians than the county. Still, more needs to be done, she said.

"Tampa needs to stand up to the county that it's in," she said. "That's what needs to happen."

www.unbanned.org

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